By Emerson T. Constantino
When the schools reopened last October 5, 2020, many were skeptical if educational institutions (public and private) can sustain the learning of the students enrolled in regular and special programs. Since the community was new to the Distance Learning Modality, there was a predicament that learning gaps will increase such as drop-out, failure, retention, and school leavers rate. Likewise, completion, graduation, and promotion rate will decrease.
Pasay City National High School ensures that Education For All is administered among all types of learners amidst the COVID-19 crisis. The school implemented the DepEd’s Open High School Program to reach out to the learners who are unable to start or complete secondary education due to problems of time, distance, physical impairment, financial difficulties, social or family problems. At the beginning of SY 2020-2021, there were seventy-two (72) enrolled students in OHSP. Twenty-five (25) of those enrollees were in Grade 8, 18 in Grade 9, and 29 in Grade 10.
The teachers included in the program did not settle on giving access to the students but also guaranteed quality education to the learners. The average Mean Percentile Score on all the subjects range from 52%-79%. All learners were promoted to the next grade level with 58 or 80% belonging to Moving Towards Mastery and 14 or 20% belonging to Closely Approximating Mastery. The program has also produced a student with high honors at the end of the school year and was recognized along with the regular students in the Moving Up ceremony held on July 16, 2021.
The teaching force makes sure that learners admitted to the Open High School Program can be competitive and productive individuals. This coming school year 2021-2022, the school sees more accomplishments of the program with its brilliant minds and passionate hearts for the students.